Spat

Nike Sues Apex One Over Trademark 

 RICHARD GREEN January 10, 1994  

Article source: https://apnews.com/

 https://apnews.com/article/863a3be7c0d538cbc6f218f96380c575

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) _ Nike has filed a false advertising and trademark infringement lawsuit against Apex One, alleging NFL players under contract to the New Jersey shoe manufacturer are pasting that company’s logo on Nike shoes.

Nike, in a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, claims that Apex One is providing stickers of its logo to its contract players in the NFL. Nike says many players wear Nike shoes but place stickers on the shoes to make them look like Apex footwear.

Use of such stickers, called ″spatting,″ has become common practice, said Keith Peters, a spokesman for Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike.

″What’s apparent is that some of the players who are being paid by Apex would prefer to wear our shoes,″ Peters said. ″I guess it’s because they prefer the way our shoes perform.″

Apex called the suit without merit.

″After reviewing Nike’s complaint, the issues relative to spatting and painting logos on tape are, quite frankly, too insignificant for us to respond to,″ said Apex chief executive officer Joseph Kirchner.

″Given Nike’s recent economic performance, one would expect that Nike would have greater concerns than what a few NFL players allegedly have on their feet,″ he said.

Apex spokesman David Venneri said he knew of no instance when a player under contract to Apex used the company’s stickers on Nike shoes.

Apex is the official supplier of football shoes to the NFL. Nike and Reebok have agreements as authorized suppliers. That means no team can have more than 10 players with recognizable Nike logos on their shoes in any given game. Reebok also can have 10. Apex can have the rest.

In 1991, the same federal court ordered Apex One to not allow its players to alter Nike shoes. That case arose late in the 1991 season when Jim Kelly of the Buffalo Bills altered his Nike shoes with an Apex One sticker, Peters said.

Photographs of NFL play obtained by Nike show that sticker alteration has taken place. He said Nike shoes are so distinctive that it is easy to tell them from Apex shoes despite the sticker.

The new lawsuit against Apex seeks $1 million in punitive damages, another cease and desist order and an unspecified share of any Apex profits.

NFL Properties sent a notice to general managers earlier this year warning that the only spatted logo that would be allowed would be the one that belongs to the shoe’s manufacturer.